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Monday, June 9, 2014

The Fault in Our Stars Review - 3½ Stars

Shailene Woodley plays a teen with stage four thyroid cancer. As the movie begins her doctor prescribes a different brand of anti-depressant. “Yeah I’m depressed” she says. ‘I’m dying.” “The Fault in our Stars” tells the story of a girl with cancer without blinking. At a support group portrayed in all of its awfulness she meets Ansel Elgort who survived his cancer after losing part of his leg. The two begin a tenuous relationship and turn this story into a meditation on hope and love. A few plot twists misfire, particularly a visit to a favorite author who turns out to be a mean drunk. But a visit to Amsterdam and Anne Frank’s house, with her quotes on hope in the background brings this story beyond a sob fest. Young girls will enjoy a good cry. But some of us older people will get a reminder of the people we love that we’ve lost and why we love and miss them. Laura Dern makes a nice appearance as Shailene’s mother. Does it deliver what it promises? Doomed teenage lovers deal with cancer. Is it entertaining? Well done. Is it worth the price of admission? Most certainly.